Visually observing a spatial distribution of a high-frequency signal of a circuit in real time and intuitively grasping an outline of the operation thereof. This is a function leading to essential innovation, and a method for implementing the function is very attractive from academic and technological viewpoints. Use of the function in various fields, for example, analysis or diagnosis of a high-speed electronic circuit or an advanced antenna, suppression of EMI, and so forth, is expected.
The unique means for visualizing the spatial distribution of the high-frequency signal in real time is the live electrooptic imaging technique, which has been invented by NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology). With this live electrooptic imaging camera, in which ultra-parallelism and ultrahigh speed of light are used in a superimposed manner through the electrooptic effect, an electric field distribution in a microwave band up to 100 GHz can be imaged and displayed in real time.
Various techniques for imaging an electric field distribution have been proposed or realized, excluding a condition “imaging and displaying in real time”. In these techniques, electric fields around various electronic circuits or electronic apparatuses are imaged although spatial scanning takes a long time, and intuitive analysis is applied. Therefore, demands for a real-time imaging technique are high.